Beginner Questions.

[sanantone]

Since you have all this free time, get the degree you want now instead of wasting time and money on something of little value such as a business administration degree. You're only 19. You ARE a new adult. There's no need to rush. A lot of people don't finish their first bachelor's degree until they're 23-25. When you have financial support is the best time to pursue a difficult degree. It only gets harder as you get older. There are degrees I could have pursued at 19 that I can't pursue now with all the bills and responsibilities I have. 

Why waste time and money on a junk degree that has a high underemployment rate and that you might use for a couple of years while you work on the degree you'll use long-term? I briefly scanned your interests, and I didn't see business. What if you wanted a second degree in biology or another science? You wouldn't be able to get it because you wasted one of your degrees on something you don't want and don't plan to use long-term.

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This is the most important thing. Your financial aid options will be more limited after you earn your first bachelor's degree. If you qualify for the Pell Grant now, you won't qualify after earning a BSBA.

[T321]

Since you have all this free time, get the degree you want now instead of wasting time and money on something of little value such as a business administration degree. You're only 19. You ARE a new adult. There's no need to rush. A lot of people don't finish their first bachelor's degree until they're 23-25.

I always heard that a bachelor degree was the true standard, but I truly want a bachelor's degree of some sort in technology. My studies can be more lax though...hearing 23-25. With all this new information it really makes me constantly reconsider my goals. Little value? I...can maybe just go straight for a computer science bachelor degree like I wanted. Thank you.

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Why waste time and money on a junk degree that has a high underemployment rate and that you might use for a couple of years while you work on the degree you'll use long-term? I briefly scanned your interests, and I didn't see business. What if you wanted a second degree in biology or another science? You wouldn't be able to get it because you wasted one of your degrees on something you don't want and don't plan to use long-term.

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This is the most important thing. Your financial aid options will be more limited after you earn your first bachelor's degree. If you qualify for the Pell Grant now, you won't qualify after earning a BSBA.
Yes, I excell in math and science mostly while I'll be learning it for the majority in the next couple years besides other interests. I didn't know your first bachelor's degree was so important.

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

1. I recommend just focusing nearly exclusively on getting the high school diploma/GED for now. You seem to have a lot of varied interests and that is great, but don't let yourself get stretched too thin and avoid knocking out the #1 priority that you should have if your eventual goal is a university degree.

2. As for the degree major, I'd probably recommend CS, if you think that it's a passion of yours. It will likely have more long-term value for you, and I agree with previous points about doing a more "challenging" degree when you're younger. It may not be challenging for you, though. I'd still say get that diploma done ASAP.

[dfrecore]

I agree that you should first get your HS diploma/GED, and THEN worry about a college degree. I'm not even sure why you're worrying about the college part yet.

And I also agree that you should not get a degree you don't want just because it's convenient. If you want a computer science degree, then that's the degree you should get. Anything else is just a waste of time and money.

[T321]

I agree that you should first get your HS diploma/GED, and THEN worry about a college degree.  I'm not even sure why you're worrying about the college part yet.

And I also agree that you should not get a degree you don't want just because it's convenient.  If you want a computer science degree, then that's the degree you should get.  Anything else is just a waste of time and money.

After I read a lot and I realized I should be more selective about the bachelor degrees to get if I want or to further pursue for a master's while I could get an associates degree later for more options, but I agree this isn't the main focus right now.

I think what led me to thinking about a college degree is age and I was of the mindset of: "It's just a high school diploma...I can get it at anytime and I can't get it right now anyway."

So I wanted to learn other things in the meantime...while ignoring my most glaring sore spots. I really...didn't want to go back to learning u.s history.

What made me more impetuous was when I saw sample tests for say...simple trigonometry. How easy. I could do so much more and thought if I could take clep or dsst tests to earn credit to store it for later, but then it came to considering my options while where to go.

I agree that I should focus on getting my high school diploma and stabilize my knowledge while minimizing all other more unnecessary hobbies.

Wow, I changed my goals a lot during this thread. As always, a thank you is needed.

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

I think what led me to thinking about a college degree is age and I was of the mindset of: "It's just a high school diploma...I can get it at anytime and I can't get it right now anyway."

So I wanted to learn other things in the meantime...while ignoring my most glaring sore spots. I really...didn't want to go back to learning u.s history... I could do so much more and thought if I could take clep or dsst tests to earn credit to store it for later

You are 19; that's a typical time to begin university-level coursework. Many people in this forum began much later. One point of caution: If the mindset toward success is structured around "I can get [that] anytime," eventually, you may wake up years later still without [that]. The race is only against yourself in the end, but don't forget to run. 

More importantly, I think I misunderstood your situation. If you really can't begin this high school diploma program for up to six months from now (Why not?), then I don't seem the harm in studying certain subjects that may overlap between the diploma and degree coursework so that you don't completely waste time. For example, if you dislike U.S. History but will need to study it for both the diploma and in college, you could study an introductory-level course through CLEP/one of the many sites listed in this forum. It would shore up your high school background, while also strongly preparing you for the eventual college exam you'd need to take anyway. Likewise, if trig feels relatively basic for you, and you didn't explore pre-calculus or Calculus AB, you could look into courses covering them--as long as you'd need another math to graduate high school.

This is the only kind of situation where I would recommend avoiding directly finishing up the diploma, since that goal should be both more immediate and more urgent than "stealth procrastinating" by working toward a goal that you can't yet officially begin. Otherwise, I'd really say to deal only with studies leading to the diploma. When the time comes for it, you will easily and quickly be able to knock out about a dozen completely free credits through various providers like Sophia, TEEX, and Theinstitutes.org, giving you a big head start toward your degree anyway.

[T321]

I think what led me to thinking about a college degree is age and I was of the mindset of: "It's just a high school diploma...I can get it at anytime and I can't get it right now anyway."

So I wanted to learn other things in the meantime...while ignoring my most glaring sore spots. I really...didn't want to go back to learning u.s history... I could do so much more and thought if I could take clep or dsst tests to earn credit to store it for later

You are 19; that's a typical time to begin university-level coursework. Many people in this forum began much later. One point of caution: If the mindset toward success is structured around "I can get [that] anytime," eventually, you may wake up years later still without [that]. The race is only against yourself in the end, but don't forget to run. 

More importantly, I think I misunderstood your situation. If you really can't begin this high school diploma program for up to six months from now (Why not?), then I don't seem the harm in studying certain subjects that may overlap between the diploma and degree coursework so that you don't completely waste time. For example, if you dislike U.S. History but will need to study it for both the diploma and in college, you could study an introductory-level course through CLEP/one of the many sites listed in this forum. It would shore up your high school background, while also strongly preparing you for the eventual college exam you'd need to take anyway. Likewise, if trig feels relatively basic for you, and you didn't explore pre-calculus or Calculus AB, you could look into courses covering them--as long as you'd need another math to graduate high school.

This is the only kind of situation where I would recommend avoiding directly finishing up the diploma, since that goal should be both more immediate and more urgent than "stealth procrastinating" by working toward a goal that you can't yet officially begin. Otherwise, I'd really say to deal only with studies leading to the diploma. When the time comes for it, you will easily and quickly be able to knock out about a dozen completely free credits through various providers like Sophia, TEEX, and Theinstitutes.org, giving you a big head start toward your degree anyway.

You see, I'm not completely financially independent and still live with my parents (But most of the time alone or in different places with very little proper interactions/conversations.) and any extra cost is shouldered by me. Financial assistance by them stopped at around the ages you can get a job (16-17.) and I used to have emotional/psychological issues to where at one point I took multiple medications, but have been stable for 3- 3 1/2. I'm grateful I don't have to pay for rent and food while they never give me any pressure, but this is a conversation from multiple times when I was younger: "Can I learn this?" Response: "You can, but only if you can afford it." Ha, ha. I find this so funny now. Education is viewed as an extra expense so that guitar, piano lessons, art supplies, calligraphy set, sennheiser headphones, notebooks, pens, or anything else I may need to learn what I want is paid by me. I've taken loans with them before with no interest which has all recently been paid back in full accumulation. I set the time of enrolling to get my high school diploma in a max of 6 months...time I'll need to convince them for another loan which I can pay back any accumulated debt as long as it's not over $10,000 dollars in 3-4 years as a max. I'm not bad with my money and have currently $5000 saved up for whatever use and can go towards that debt I may accumulate later. I just want to focus on my studies so any expenses I may need at this time will be covered with the loan. A very relaxed situation.

[allvia]

CLEP is free when you go through Modern States - https://modernstates.org/

[T321]

CLEP is free when you go through Modern States - https://modernstates.org/

Yep, thanks for the easy link. I just hadn't properly fixed edit 2 yet to restate my current goal and just wanted to give a more general background to understand my time issue for the high school diploma. I'll definitely focus on earning credits and the courses required with so many possible options. 6 months can be a long time when your focused on particular subjects.

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Can I take clep or dsst tests to get credit when I'm not enrolled in a college? I'm about to enroll in an online school in half a year at most to get my adult high school diploma and want to start earning credits early for preparation in a bachelor's of computer science degree. Can the credits just be stored away and what courses are recommended to make this goal possible? I'll have about 3-4 years of free time to study besides other hobbies, but am unsure of what to study. Recommendations would be helpful, thank you. (Note: I've a wide variety of interests, but am not very fond of history, culture, environmental, and etc...)


Edit 2.1: I decided to focus on earning credits and the courses required for a computer science bachelor degree. I originally set 6 months as the max time to persuade, but maybe it'll be in 4- 5 months. It can be a long time when you focus exclusively while I luckily already have the knowledge of some courses and just have to figure out a more detailed plan with alternative credit options. Thank you for all your ideas and I think I'm good now. 

Edit: My birthday passed yesterday and I woke up with a panic as I did a serious self reflection. As nineteen you're not 16-17 or a new adult and a certain responsibility should be expected of you. I didn't have a high school diploma as I didn't even attend for private reasons. I studied miscellaneously and was overwhelmed at my uselessness when seeing what others had already accomplished. There's so much more than coding needed for a bachelor in computer science. I didn't have the financial means to afford going to a college traditionally, but came across an article about jay cross's d.i.y degree which led me to this site. I obviously don't trust his d.i.y anymore and glad I didn't sign up. I've no urgent financial pressure and time sort of passed while I was comfortable, but it's not good to go about like that! I wanted to bring my life back on track and the people here were really helpful in answering my questions. It suddenly feels like getting a degree isn't so hard and I'm truly relieved quite a bit. So...this thread is resolved.

[Learnfordegree]

T321, Please know you will be able to accomplish everything you set out to do. You are doing well despite the challenges you dealt with so far in life. Take one day at a time and keep getting things done in small portions. It will all add up. You are at the right place with this forum. Here these folks are so helpful to anyone who ask for help/advice. Utilize that modern states.org suggestion to earn some credits without financial obligations to start with. I will leave you a quote someone send me a long time ago.  “Everything is okay in the end. If it’s not okay, then it’s not the end”